


Over

by masongirl



Series: Request Game drabbles [3]
Category: Band of Brothers (TV 2001)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Break Up, Crying, Drabble, Heavy Angst, M/M, Relationship Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:34:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24794713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/masongirl/pseuds/masongirl
Summary: David struggles to cope with the fact that Joe's leaving.
Relationships: Joseph Liebgott/David Kenyon Webster
Series: Request Game drabbles [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1792132
Comments: 6
Kudos: 23





	Over

**Author's Note:**

> Requested as part of a game I posted on Tumblr [here.](https://speirtongirl.tumblr.com/post/621121012587757568/request-game)

It's the last round of boxes, but Joe doesn't look at him as he stacks them up. He reaches into his pocket instead and grabs his keychain, pulls at the small silver key David remembers so clearly from how long he spent holding it in his fist, sweating before he offered it to Joe. How could that symbol of hope and trust become a weapon coated in despair? Why does its clatter on the counter wound David so? A knife to the heart. 

"I kept the mug we got in New York." David says when Joe bends down to pick up the boxes. His voice sounds unmoved and glacial, and he knows Joe hates him for it, David hates himself too, but he doesn't know any other way to keep himself from falling apart.

"Whatever." Joe mutters and takes a step towards the door.

A wave of anxiety clashes over David's head like a tidal wave, it drowns him, blows him off his feet, makes his sight blurry and his eyes burn. It can't end here, this can't be the last word Joe has said to him. He wishes he could prolong this farewell and tie their ripped edges back together with paper clips of eloquence, some of those clever words he has always been so proud of knowing, but they elude him. There's nothing but his awkward self grasping at straws, the shiny polish is gone.

"Do you want the toaster? I know you don't really like toast, but it was you who bought it, so…"

"Look, Webster, I don't give a-" Joe grits out between clenched teeth, but he cuts himself off and closes his eyes for a second, then, as a final act of mercy, raises them to David's face. He softens his voice. "I hope you'll find someone better, David."

Joe won't even fight anymore. It's worse than the yelling, hurts more than the weight of all those weeks they've spent throwing insults at each other. It means he doesn't care, and the relationship David hoped to keep for a lifetime has dwindled into indifference. It's not worth one last touch or a smile goodbye. David braces himself for the sound of the door slamming shut, the final snap that signals the end, but it doesn't come. It closes with a muted click. Joe came into his life like wildfire and left as if David meant nothing more than a burnt-out ember. 

Standing alone in the hallway of his empty apartment, David hugs his stomach and shakes lower and lower with every breath until his knees touch the floor. He rocks back and forth and watches the door handle, but it won't move. It's over. The tears on his face are warm and dry so quickly, and he knows all they leave are twin tracks of stickiness on his porcelain skin. 

He'll go out on his boat. It might be a bit too windy for sailing, but he needs to listen to the rhythmic murmurs of the sea and remember that solitude can feel liberating too.

_ ~End~ _

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is appreciated. :)


End file.
